When I bake a pound cake in a tube pan, my cake always cracks, but if I bake it in a plain baking pan, it does not. Can you tell me why?

Sarika
- from Chennai, India

Your question doesn't describe what type of cracking you are seeing in your pound cake. Having the top crack open about 1/2-inch is typical of made-from-scratch pound cake – whether made in a tube pan or in a loaf pan. If it's cracking more than that, you might be overbeating the batter or your oven temperature is incorrect.
If your cake is cracking all the way through when you remove it from the pan, you may be trying to remove it too soon, before the structure of the baked cake has cooled enough to set. Try letting the cake cool in the pan an additional 5-10 minutes and see if that helps.